China 

Famine  Conditions 

Which  I Have 
Just  Seen 


By 

Bishop  W. 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South 


The  American  Committee 
for 

CHINA  FAMINE  FUND 

1 iioMAs  M'.  Lamont,  Chairman 
Bible  House,  New  York 


“CHINA  FAMINE  CONDITIONS 


WHICH  I HAVE  JUST  SEEN” 

By 

Bishop  W.  R.  LAMBUTH 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South 

January,  1921. 

The  following  statement  was  made  hy 
Bishop  Lambuth  in  Garden  City,  Long  Is- 
land, on  January  19,  1921.  Bishop  Lambuth 
has  just  returned  from  his  work  in  China. 
He  had  traveled  in  the  area  affected  by  fam- 
ine. He  speaks  the  Chinese  language  of 
that  region  and  was  able  to  make  accurate 
first-hand  observations. 


The  conditions  which  I found  in  a visit  to 
the  interior  of  Shantung  and  Chi-li,  by  mule 
cart,  horseback  and  on  foot,  almost  baffle 
description.  I found  east  and  west  of  the 
Grand  Canal  lands  that  were  being  sold  for 
one-third  of  their  value,  say  at  seven  or 
leight  dollars  per  mow  (a  mow  is  a sixth  of 
an  acre),  and  that  nearly  all  the  animals 
ihad  been  sold.  In  one  village  eighty  were 
in  use  prior  to  the  famine;  now  only  twenty 
were  left  and  they  were  about  to  be 
islaughtered  or  sold.  In  another  thirty  ani- 


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nials  and  onl^’  three  were  left.  Land  wasi 
being  sold  or  mortgaged.  The  people  had 
pawned  or  sold  their  clothing  in  the  fact 
of  the  coming  winter.  They  said  they  wouldl 
rather  freeze  than  starve,  and  consequenth 
their  clothing  was  being  disposed  of.  I toob 
a photograph  or  two  in  which  boys  were 
almost  stripped  of  their  clothing. 

The  area  affected  consists  of  about  a 
hundred  thousand  square  miles  where  some 
fifteen  million  people  are  facing  starvation. 
A number  of  famines,  of  course,  have  oc- 
curred in  the  history  of  this  section  of  the 
country".  The  most  severe,  perhaps,  wa^ 
in  1877  and  1878.  It  is  said  that  eight  mil 
lion  people  perished  at  that  time  from  hun- 
ger, disease  and  cold.  The  area  now  in- 
volved is  greater,  and  it  is  probable  that 
more  people  will  perish,  if  relief  is  not 
promptly  rendered. 

My  entering  into  the  causes  of  the  famine 
time  will  not  permit.  I will  simply  say  that 
they  have  had  both  drought  and  flood  in 
some  sections  of  this  area — four  successive 
droughts  in  one  section,  a plague  of  locusts, 
and  in  another  a flood  in  addition.  A stud\ 
of  the  physical  geography  of  this  area  will 
show  that  the  rain  clouds  pass  from  the  sea. 
the  rain  being  precipitated  in  the  mountains 
near  the  sources  of  the  Yellow  River.  The 
denudation  of  forests,  which  has  gone  on  for 
several  hundred  years  in  North  China,  has 
prevented  the  entanglement  of  the  clouds 


4 


and  precipitation  has  taken  place  in  the  re- 
mote interior,  and  little  or  no  rain  falls  here. 
There  was  some  rain  in  September,  and  the 
farmers  were  enabled  to  plant  wheat.  They 
will,  however,  get  only  forty  or  fifty  per 
cent,  of  the  usual  crop.  The  seed  was  fur- 
nished by  the  Government  and  largely  dis- 
tributed by  the  missionaries. 

FAMINE  FOOD 

As  to  the  food  itself,  or  what  is  being 
used  for  food.  I found  just  six  weeks  ago 
that  what  they  had  would  not  last  more  than 
three  or  four  weeks — that  consisted  of  nub- 
bins of  corn  with  fifteen  or  twenty  grains  to 
a nubbin.  These  grains  were  not  well 
formed  and  were  watery.  An  ear  which  I 
have  at  home,  grown  just  south  of  the  Great 
Wall,  pretty  well  north  of  the  famine  region, 
was  about  ten  inches  long  and  had  several 
hundred  grains  of  corn,  well  formed  and 
solid. 

In  the  famine  area  the  ear  is  not  the 
length  of  your  index  finger  and  has  an  aver- 
age of  only  fifteen  or  twenty  grains.  The 
millet  was  empty,  a mere  husk  with  no  head. 
The  people  were  eating  ground  corn  cobs, 
mixed  with  leaves  of  elm,  poplar  or  ash  trees, 
and  the  little  berry  that  grows  on  the  ash 
tree.  Also,  potato  tops,  where  they  could 
beg  or  steal  them.  These  were  soon  disposed 
of.  I found  them  eating  thistles.  I asked 
a farmer  one  day : “Wh}*  are  you  eating 


5 


this  stuff?”  It  was  being  prepared  by  his 
wife.  He  replied:  “There  is  no  help  for 
it.”  Then  he  added:  “I  couldn’t  get  m}- 
animals,  when  I owned  any  animals,  to  eat 
the  food  I am  putting  into  my  own  stomach, 
and  that  which  is  being  eaten  by  my  family.” 
You  well  know  the  consequence. 

The  consequences,  of  course,  would  be, 
first,  reduction  of  efficiency  as  far  as  work 
is  concerned,  followed  by  dysentery  and 
ultimately  death,  either  by  starvation  or 
disease. 

FUEL 

Fuel,  of  course,  is  scarce.  Their  de- 
pendence there  is  not  upon  trees,  but  what 
they  grow.  The  stalks  of  the  kaoliang  and 
millet  constitute  their  fuel.  But  not  hav- 
ing had  stalks  for  two  3'ears,  they  are  tear- 
ing down  their  houses  and  burning  them  or 
the  kaoliang  stalks  used  for  the  roofs  of  these 
buildings.  In  a few  weeks  these  will  be  used 
up  and  the}’  then  face  death  from  freezing 
as  well  as  death  from  starvation. 

SOCIAL  EFFECTS 

In  this  particular  village  I am  thinking 
of  just  now,  I met  a woman  of  seventy-two. 
“Where  is  your  husband?”  I queried.  “He 
has  gone  out  to  beg.”  “How  long  will  he 
be  gone?”  “Two  or  three  weeks,”  was  the 
answer.  “Have  you  sons?”  “Three.  They 
have  gone  to  beg  or  work.”  “If  they  cannot 


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get  work  or  beg,”  I asked  the  village  elder 
and  Mr.  Hineger,  who  was  with  me:  “What 
* are  they  going  to  do  then.^”  “They  "'ill 
I roh,”  was  the  reply.  In  some  of  the  villages 
j it  is  now  dangerous  to  travel.  Robbing  is 
growing  constantly*  as  I was  informed  by 
the  missionaries  of  the  London  Missionary 
Society. 


RELIEF  WORK 
I Organizations 

' What  about  the  organizations  that  have 
I been  effected.^  There  are  at  least  four  that 
I are  notable.  One  is  the  International  Famine 
I,  Relief  Association  in  Shanghai,  consisting  of 
I a mixed  committee  of  Chinese  and  foreigners, 
i foreign  money  going  through  the  hands  of 
I the  foreigners  and  Chinese  money  through 
I Chinese  hands.  I met  with  the  Committee 
1 after  froinff  to  the  famine  district  and  as- 
I certained  the  facts,  because  there  had  been 
! some  question  raised  as  to  the  distribution 
I of  the  fund. 

In  Tsinan  Fu  there  is  a local  organization 
of  missionaries  juid  Chinese.  In  Tientsin 
there  is  the  International  Famine  Relief  As- 
sociation, of  which  Mr.  Turner  is  secretary. 
In  Peking  there  is  another  International 
Famine  Relief  Association  consisting  of  both 
foreigners  and  Chinese,  and  the  members  of 
the  Legations.  Mr.  C.  R.  Crane,  United 
States  Minister  to  Peking,  is  a member  of 


7 


that  Association.  Then  there  is  the  Red' 
Cross. 

Employment 

The  Red  Cross  is  undertaking  to  build  a 
road  from  Tehchow  on  the  Pukow-Tientsin 
Railroad.  Tehchow  is  a station  of  the  Con- 
gregational Board.  Dr.  F.  F.  Tucker  and 
his  wife  are  in  charge  of  two  hospitals.  He 
is  the  local  agent  of  the  Red  Cross.  The 
road  is  67  miles  long  which  they  are  building 
to  Lingtsin  on  the  Grand  Canal.  They  arc 
proposing  to  put  100  men  to  every  li  (there 
are  about  four  li  to  the  English  mile)  of 
that  road.  When  I was  there  they  thought 
they  could  take  care  of  30,000,  not  only  the 
men  employed  but  their  Avives  and  children. 
A little  later  they  increased  the  estimate  to 
about  a hundred  thousand,  but  that  was  out 
of  1,500,000  needy  people  in  the  six  counties 
in  which  the  Tehchow  missionaries  were  at 
work. 

The  Red  Cross  is  doing  good  work  but  it  is 
limited  in  funds.  About  five  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars  in  gold  has  been  sent  from 
America,  and  in  addition,  some  from  Manila, 
and  other  points  in  local  currency,  amount- 
ing to  nearly  a million  silver  dollars. 

Food  Supply 

As  to  the  food  supply.  This  comes  large- 
ly from  Manchuria.  These  North  China 
people  are  not  accustomed  to  the  use  of  rice. 


8 


They  use  kaoliang  or  millet.  Both  are 
cheaper  than  rice  and  they  give  a sense  of 
distension.  Beans  are  being  shipped  to 
Chefu  on  the  coast  of  Shantung,  and  by  rail 
kaoliang  and  millet  from  Manchuria.  The 
military  governor  of  the  Province  of  Shan- 
tung made  it  possible  for  free  transporta- 
tion in  his  territory  and  that,  in  a measure, 
lias  been  done  in  other  sections. 

Public  Confidence 

As  to  confidence.  The  distribution  which 
has  been  made  of  foreign  money  has  been 
through  these  committees  and  bv"  the  mis- 
sionaries. The  Chinese  themselves  have  said 
repeatedly  and  affirmed  that  they  have  abso- 
lute confidence  in  the  integrity  of  the  mis- 
sionaries doing  this  work  so  that  not  a lit- 
tle, even  of  Chinese  money,  has  gone  through 
the  hands  of  missionaries  who  are  repre- 
senting these  organizations  at  the  several 
points  mentioned  and  other  points  in  Honan 
and  Shansi. 

What  Is  To  Be  Done? 

The  need  is  more  money.  “If  we  had  the 
money  we  could  take  care  of  these  people. 
We  could  buy  foodstuffs,  and  we  could  have 
it  transported  either  b}"  cart,  mule-back,  or 
on  the  railroads. 

“As  to  money,  five  dollars  will  save  a life. 
I calculate  now  that  five  dollars  in  silver 
will  save  a life.  That  Avould  be  much  less, 

9 


i 


of  course,  in  gold  at  this  time  (at  present 
less  than  three  dollars  American  money). 
What  is  to  be  done  must  be  done  within  the 
next  five  months.  Yes,  within  the  next  two 
or  three  months ; otherwise  millions  will 
perish.  We  cannot  wait.  In  the  next  place, 
we  need  men.” 

iNIen  and  women  are  needed  for  these  dis- 
tricts for  distribution  and  to  care  for  the 
sick  and  diseased.  I made  a call  to  my  own 
Mission  and  had  twelve  volunteers ; two  have 
gone  into  the  famine  area  and  others  will 
go.  The  missionaries,  not  a few  of  them, 
liaA^e  had  experience  in  other  famines,  and 
they  will  make  the  wisest  directors  and  wUl 
be  more  efficient  in  this  sort  of  work  if  they 
can  be  spared.  They  ought  to  be  spared, 
partly  on  account  of  these  people  who  them- 
selves are  needing  their  direct  ministry,  and 
on  account  of  the  missionaries  in  these  locali- 
ties who  are  breaking  down  from  the  very 
heavy  burdens  coming  upon  them.  They 
cannot  cope  with  the  needs. 

THE  URGENCY 

As  to  the  urgency,  I repeat : There  are 
about  15,000,000  people  face  to  face  with 
starvation.  If  they  are  not  succored  they 
will  perish  from  three  causes.  First,  starva- 
tion. I talked  with  three  women  who  were 
sitting  on  the  kang  (a  combination  of  stove 
and  bed).  They  showed  thj  ravages  of 
disease  in  their  eyes.  “Why  do  you  sit 


10 


here?"  “We  are  not  able  to  get  off;  we  are 
too  weak."  “What  are  you  eating?”  “You 
can  see  it  in  the  pot  boiling  nearby,”  was 
the  reply.  I dipped  up  some  of  the  stuff  and 
tried  it.  I couldn't  live  a week  on  the  stuff. 
I said,  “How  long  can  you  live  on  such  food 
as  this?'’  The  food  was  the  leaves  of  trees 
and  thistles  and  a thick  chaff  mixed  with 
them.  They  replied,  “Four  or  five  weeks. 
Xot  much  longer  than  that.  We  are  sick 
now.”  They  were  not  able  to  walk  and  that 
was  true  of  many  others. 

One  thousand  refugees  died  in  a single 
night  in  Kalgaji  from  cold.  They  had 
pawned  or  sold  their  clothing  and  refugecd 
up  that  far.  A cold  spell  came  on,  and  the 
men,  women,  and  children  perished.  After  I 
visited  these  two  areas,  I went  to  Tientsin. 
I couldn't  sleep  on  account  of  the  groans  of 
the  men  and  women  who  were  lying  on  the 
stone  pavements  of  the  City  of  Tientsin. 
They  were  covering  themselves  with  any- 
thing they  could  get  to  protect  themselves 
from  the  cold. 

Then  there  are  the  diseases.  Dr.  Piell 
told  me  there  had  been  cholera  at  that  time 
because  it  had  turned  warm  and  the  flies  car- 
ried the  poison.  “But,”  said  he,  “It  is 
rather  tvphus  fever  we  are  anticipating. 
The  people  have  sold  or  killed  their  animals 
and  we  are  not  able  to  transport  the  sick  to 
our  hospital.  Consequently  our  patients 
have  dropped  off  thirtj'  per  cent,  during  the 


11 


last  few  weeks,”  “I  do  not  know  what  willj 
happen,”  he  continued.  The}’  were  tryingj 
to  take  care  of  the  London  Mission  at  that| 
point,  one  hundred  ten  li  west  of  Linchingl 
on  the  Grand  Canal. 

I asked,  “How  much  money  have  you  re-; 
ceived,  and  how  many  can  you  take  care 
of?” 

“All  told,  we  have  room  to  take  care  of 
twelve  thousand  people,”  was  his  reply. 

“What  will  become  of  the  remaining 
eighty-two  thousand  of  your  one  hundred 
thousand.^”  I asked,  to  which  he  replied: 
“They  will  perish.” 

“What  policy  have  you  adopted?” 

“The  polic}’  we  have  adopted  is  the  same 
as  that  of  the  Red  Cross ; namely,  the  taking 
of  a certain  number  of  villages  and  carrying 
them  through  the  year.  That  is  all  we  can 
do.” 

“What  about  the  rest?” 

“They  will  die.  As  there  is  no  use  to  keep 
them  alive  for  two  months  and  then  let  them 
starve,  we  have  had  to  select  a few  villages, 
and  we  are  endeavoring  to  carry  those  peo- 
ple through  until  the  end  of  the  season. 

The  urgency,  therefore,  is  very  great.  I 
can  hardly  help  you  to  realize  how  great  it 
is.  I sat  in  the  railroad  car  and  looked  out 
of  my  window  at  a point  between  Tehchow 
and  Tientsin,  and  someone  threw  a sandwich 
out  of  the  diner  onto  the  other  track.  There 


12 


were  two  women  who  sprang  upon  the  trade 
— it  was  a double  track  road, — and  as  they 
struggled  for  the  sandwich,  a guard  who  sat 
there  to  protect  the  tracks  ran  to  these  two 
women  and  separated  them  and  threatened 
to  strike  them  in  order  that  they  might  get 
off  the  track.  A dog  sprang  in  and  ate  the 
sandwich. 

I saw  a dog  in  a village  trying  to  eat  a 
piece  of  oilcloth.  He  did  his  best  to  chew  it 
up  and  swallow  it,  but  he  was  so  weak  that 
he  could  hardly  stand  up. 

In  the  villages  to  the  east  of  where  I saw 
this,  I found  there  were  no  children — I mean 
no  babies — none  under  one  year  of  age.  I 
asked:  “Where  are  the  children?” 

“Gone,”  was  the  reply. 

“Given  them  away?”  I queried. 

The  reply  came  back:  “We  have  no  one 
to  give  them  to.  Who  can  feed  them?  We 
have  no  one  to  sell  them  to.  Who  would  buy 
them?”  Why,  children  are  being  bought  in 
Shanghai  at  a dollar  apiece.  The  mother 
continued : “Rather  than  see  our  children 
starve,  we  will  throw  them  into  the  wells.” 
The  wells  as  a result  have  beeme  so  polluted 
in  some  sections,  the  American  Consul  told 
me  at  Tsinanfu,  that  the  w’ater  could  not  be 
used. 

The  month  of  March  probably  will  be  the 
crucial  month.  There  is  no  time  to  be  lost 
because  these  fifteen  million  people,  by 


13 


March,  if  they  do  not  have  more  food  than 
the}'  are  getting  now,  will  at  that  time  have 
become  so  weakened  by  lack  of  food  that 
they  will  perish  either  from  starvation,  dis- 
ease or  cold.  It  is  a fact  that  in  the  last 
famine  they  ate  the  cotton  in  their  clothing 
(they  wear  cotton  padded  jackets,  you 
know)  to  satisfy  their  hunger. 

These  are  no  exaggerated  statements.  I 
have  seen  the  tragedy  and  looked  it  right  in 
the  eye.  The  missionaries  there  are  feeling 
it  vei’y  acutely,  and  urging  that  help  be 
given — adequate  help — at  once. 

I would  reiterate  that  you  may  have  ab- 
solute confidence  in  the  committees  at  work 
because  they  have  for  their  larger  member- 
ship, missionaries  in  each  case,  whether  it 
be  Shanghai,  Tientsin,  or  in  Peking.  Money 
sent  and  distributed  through  the  committees 
which  have  been  mentioned,  will  surely  reach 
its  objective. 

I am  sure  that  the  facts,  rather  than  any 
further  words  in  the  matter  of  appeal,  will 
put  before  you  the  urgency  of  the  case. 

Xo  time  must  be  lost  in  meeting  this  de- 
mand, and  whatever  funds  can  be  secured 
should  be  cabled,  it  seems  to  me,  to  one  or 
the  other  of  the  committees  which  have  been 
mentioned. 


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